Rebel Wilson, Pitch Perfect and Body Acceptance

By
Kerensa Cadenas
|
Women and HollywoodOctober 2, 2012 at 11:07AM

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Rebel Wilson discusses the difficulty she had in getting cast for roles when she was starting out in Hollywood. Despite her talent, Wilson wasn’t getting cast for roles, a process that frustrated her.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Rebel Wilson discusses the difficulty she had in getting cast for roles when she was starting out in Hollywood. Despite her talent, Wilson wasn’t getting cast for roles, a process that frustrated her.

I was really pissed off, Wilson said. Don't they see I'm talented? Don't they see that I'm funny and interesting? But of course nobody did.

And now everyone is seeing how interesting and talented Wilson is. She steals the show in Pitch Perfect (written by Kay Cannon), which opened in limited release this past weekend. The film is about Beca (Anna Kendrick- in her first starring role) who begrudgingly joins an all-woman college acapella group, The Barden Bellas, and winds up competing against their male counterparts, The Treblemakers.

Wilson plays Fat Amy, her self-given nickname, that she tells Bellas leader Aubrey (Anna Camp) is to ensure that twig bitches like her don’t say it behind her back. Despite her weight-focused moniker, Fat Amy’s weight is a non-issue in the film and she is a character with confidence and sexiness in spades. While Wilson isn’t the main character, she steals every scene she’s in—with her perfect comedic timing and equally amazing voice.

Produced by another Hollywood feminist, Elizabeth Banks (who has one of the best lines in the film to her misogynist co-judge), Pitch Perfect continues the recent stretch of films that have given us more complicated and realistic portrayals of women and female friendships, further negates the tired debate of whether pretty women can be funny (Sorry Nikki Finke!) and just makes you happy to watch.

As Fat Amy says about the reason she joined The Bellas, “I joined this to hang out with cool chicks and to get away from all my boyfriends,” Pitch Perfect is a great time to hang out with Rebel Wilson and the other cool ladies of The Bellas.

There is lots of interest in Pitch Perfect. It opened on just 335 screens last weekend and grossed over $5 million. Think about that compared with Won't Back Down which opened on 2,500 screens and only managed to gross $2.6 million. It opens nationwide on Friday.